Welcome back to Something About Coins! A report on U.S. Mint sales showed over 200,000 of the new 2011 Proof Sets sold in their first week. The next product launch will be the 2011 Silver Proof Set next Tuesday. Counterfeit euro coins have certainly been a problem, as described in today's third article, and the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) released an informative video of their laser coin scanner. Enjoy!
2011 Proof Set Sales Debut at 253,144, CoinNews.net
The latest United States Mint coin sales figures indicate a slower start for the 2011 Proof Set which includes numismatic proof versions of the fourteen coins that will be in circulation this year. Debuting six day sales were 253,144 between their release on Tuesday, January 11, to Sunday, January 16. That is the weakest start in the past several years despite its long first reporting sales period. As an example, the 2010 Proof Set started near 300,000 during its first four days ... Click for coin article
US Mint 2011 Silver Proof Set Launches January 25, coincollectingnews.org
Collectors may begin ordering the 2011 United States Mint Silver Proof Set at noon Eastern Time (ET) on January 25. The dime, half-dollar and quarter-dollar coins in the set are all struck in lustrous 90 percent silver, commonly referred to as "coin silver." This year's set includes the second group of commemorative quarter-dollars in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program honoring Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania; Glacier National Park in Montana; Olympic National Park in Washington; Vicksburg National Military ... Click for coin article
Fake Euro Coins On the Increase, blogs.wsj.com
If you have a fake euro coin in your pocket, you’re unlucky. According to the European Commission, only one coin in every 86,000 is fake. You’re chances of holding a fake are highest with the €2 coin: 3 out of 4 fakes are of the top denomination. Counterfeiting coins returned to its upward trend last year, after declining between 2007 and 2009, new commission data shows. That’s partly because counterfeiters are producing more 50 cent and €1 fakes than they did: their numbers almost doubled over the last four years. The number of fake coins ... Click for coin article
What do you do with ugly coins?, numismaticnews.net
Each day at the grading service, I see many coins with impaired eye appeal. Proofs are hazed over, spotted, splotchy, discolored and fingerprinted while the copper coins are dirty, often with green residue. Usually this is PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Many are so bad that when the coins are removed from their holders for grading, they leave a green outline from their rim on the flip. Why do collectors let this happen? What do they expect for a grade when they send coins like this to be slabbed? They are the present-day caretakers of these objects ... Click for coin article
2011 US Mint Coins Page Available For Collectors, worldmintcoins.com
Collectors who have not had the change to peruse the upcoming 2011 US Mint releases will want to take the opportunity to look through the World Mint Coins' 2011 US Coins Page. Featured there are the major individual coin releases planned by the Mint for the year. Included in that list, and likely to be extremely popular, are the upcoming 2011 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Uncirculated Coins. This series will actually be in its second year when the Mint issues the first 2011-dated strike of the program, the Gettysburg Silver Coin ... Click for coin article
PCGS Secure Plus™ Update: See how the Scanner detects re-submitted coins that have been altered, pcgs.com
Click here for coin video
Thanks for reading!
